Like their eastern counterparts, the Western Plaguelands were once fertile and beautiful but are now gray, blighted and noxious. Undead wander the land and haunt the abandoned towns and farmsteads. The largest Scourge city here is Andorhal, beneath which is an underground complex housing the undead’s School of Necromancy. The Scarlet Crusade strikes against the Scourge from Hearthglen. The only place of any sanity in the Western Plaguelands is Uther's Tomb, a consecrated monument to the fallen hero Uther Lightbringer.[1]

Contents

The area now called the Western Plaguelands was a beautiful forested farmland to the east of the Capital City of Lordaeron. It was the lush eastern belt of the Tirisfal Glades stretching from Lordaeron in the west to the Darrowmere Forest to the east. The town of Hearthglen was the seat of the regional administration, while the town of Andorhal was the center of grain distribution in the Kingdom of Lordaeron's northern provinces.

Knowing that the quickest way to spread the Plague of Undeath would be via the grain exported from Andorhal, the necromancer Kel'Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned infected the grain with the Plague, and set up four massive plague cauldrons in the fields of the area's four largest farmsteads. As Lordaeron collapsed, the farmlands and the forests began to die. The trees in the Plaguelands pulsate with tumor-like growths, and the needles of the pines are a sickly brown. With the Kingdom collapsed, the Scarlet Crusade attempted to salvage what little of their lands remained, taking possession of Mardenholde Keep in Hearthglen as a regional headquarters. The Argent Dawn also has a presence here, including setting up a camp near the overcrowded cemetery at Sorrow Hill for the Alliance, aiding the Forsaken in reinforcing their bulwark on the eastern border of Tirisfal, and sending soldiers of the Horde into battle against the Scourge.

Despite being where the Plague took hold in Lordaeron, the Western Plaguelands are in surprisingly better condition (though still quite dead) than the Eastern Plaguelands. It is clear that the land is trying to resist the Plague with what little it has left.

From Tirisfal Glades: Follow the main road east of the Undercity, passing through the Bulwark. Alliance players beware: Though there are Argent Dawn NPCs there, the Bulwark is a Horde encampment. Stay on the main road, do not pass into any of the camps.

From the Hinterlands: Between Aerie Peak and the Quel'Danil Lodge is a narrow pass known as the Plaguemist Ravine. It runs through the mountains and comes out along Darrowmere Lake, not far from the gates of Caer Darrow. Horde players beware: Aerie Peak is an Alliance town, and the high elves of the Quel'Danil Lodge are hostile to Horde players (though if you are high enough level to enter the plaguelands, these elves should not pose much of a threat).

From the Alterac Mountains: The main road leading north from the Hillsbrad Foothills (west of Tarren Mill) splits once inside Alterac; one road leading west to the Ruins of Alterac, the other east to Strahnbrad. Take the east road through Strahnbrad (beware the Syndicate rogues and Boulderfist ogres that wander near there), and follow it as it curves north, through Chillwind Point. Follow it north until you enter the Western Plaguelands. Horde players beware: Though there are Argent Dawn NPCs there, Chillwind Camp (located almost on the border between WPL and Alterac) is an Alliance encampment. It is advised to remain on the far right side of the road (the camp is on the left), to avoid aggroing any Alliance-flagged NPCs.

An alternate path through the Alterac Mountains is to follow the river north from Hillsbrad Fields to Chillwind Point, than go north to the road leading to Chillwind Camp, or follow the river all the way to Darrowmere Lake in the south part of the zone.

Ruins of Andorhal – retaken by the Alliance in the SW – the buildings at this entrance are rebuilt; taken by the Horde in the NE and redesigned with Forsaken architecture; during the Battle for Andorhal the Forsaken successfully claim Andorhal as their own.

Other – many of the areas once owned by the Scarlet Crusade around Hearthglen are infested with Redpine Gnolls; there appears to be no Scarlet Crusade presence any longer within the zone; the Western Plaguelands are largely lush now, with the few undead areas left those of Gahrron's Withering, the Weeping Cave, and the Ruins of Andorhal; new sound files have been included for the zone

The Western Plaguelands are home to several characters of note. At Chillwind Camp, Commander Ashlam Valorfist seeks aid in the battle against the Scourge. At Caer Darrow, Eva Sarkhoff attempts to rid the Scholomance of its most powerful evils. At Andorhal, the bronze dragon Chronormu sends bold adventurers into the ruins in search of temporal anomalies.